BCCI's Shukla defends Team India after its 20-20 World Cup exit

Published: Monday, June 15, 2009, 15:40 [IST]

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New Delhi, June 15 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) media and finance committee chairman Rajiv Shukla on Monday defended Team India and its skipper M S Dhoni, a day after the team was ousted from the second Twenty20 World Cup that is being played in England.

Talking to reporters here, Shukla admitted that it was a big loss, but added: "We must concentrate on the upcoming West Indies series."

Shukla described Dhoni as a great captain and expressed confidence about the team bouncing back.

On Monday, Dhoni apologized to fans after crashing out of the ICC Twenty20 championship but rejected suggestions that exhaustion from playing too many games caused the failure of his top batsmen.

"We are sorry for what happened but, we can say we gave our best," Dhoni said after losing to England by three wickets before thousands of Indian supporters at Lord's cricket ground in London.

"We had experienced guys who can handle the pressure. It was a day when nothing much worked for us."

In reply to England's score of 153, India scored 150 for five in their allotted 20 overs.

The Indian media slammed Team India's performance and said the close margin of defeat did not reflect how poorly the Indians played. (ANI)